July 23
When Faith Wavers
If we believe that God is who He says He is and will do what He has promised, why do so many of us habitually waver in our prayers? Instead of exercising bold faith, we come to the Lord “hoping” He will hear us and answer our requests, but we’re just not sure He will. With this kind of thinking, we cannot expect to receive anything from Him.
One reason we are so prone to doubt is that we fail to see God at work in our circumstances. We asked, and nothing happened. But the Lord is not some cosmic bellhop who jumps in response to our requests. He sees past, present, and future and knows the right time for every answer. His invisible hand is already at work on our behalf—arranging situations to accomplish His will, opening hearts,
and preparing us to receive what He wants to give.
Another cause for uncertainty is ignorance. If we don’t know God’s ways, we will be disappointed in His response. All too often our prayers are accompanied by expectations of how He will work. When He fails to intervene according to our timetable or anticipated method, we start to doubt. But placing our faith in the Lord and trusting in His good and perfect ways gives us stability as we wait for His answer.
To overcome doubts, spend time in the Word to learn God’s principles and ways. Then you’ll begin to grasp what He wants to achieve in your life and how He goes about it. Examine your past from a biblical perspective—faith will grow as you see the unexpected ways He answered your prayers.
Related articles
- Another Piece From Dr. Charles Stanley (terry1954.wordpress.com)
- When in Doubt (lettersfromlilies.wordpress.com)
- Your prayers are needed! (fellowshipofminds.wordpress.com)
Who I am 
I have always believed in the power of prayer, but I also know that sometimes the answer is no or at least, not right mow.
Barb
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me too, we always get one of the answers, but as humans we like yes, right now
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Dr. Stanley always has some good words for us….
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he sure does!!!
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A good example would be the case of Lazarus. When he was sick, the sisters sent word that Jesus’ beloved friend was ill to the point of death. When Jesus got the news, he told his disciples to go with him to another village instead of hightailing it back to solve Mary and Martha’s problem. While Jesus was in the other village, He received the news that Lazarus had died. You know what He said, ” Lazarus is only sleeping (another word for death because to God nothing is everlasting except for His will), this happened that the Lord might be glorified. Jesus then got to Lazarus’ village by the fourth day. He told the people to go open up the sepulchre so that He could deal with the Lazarus situation. Everyone tried to stop Him, telling Him that the guy had been dead for 4 days, and the sisters who had been his followers for sometime and knew of his power told Jesus that if He had come sooner then their brother would still be alive, but that they believed that when He came again at the final resurrection Lazarus would be raised. I can imagine that Jesus might have been amused, yet saddened by the irony that these women who had so much faith in Him, hadn’t even considered the possibility that Jesus would revive their brother right then and their. Instead of prolonging their words of advice, Jesus simply turned toward the now open, smelly tomb and said, ” :Lazarus, come forth.” The crowd must have been paralyzed when they saw the linen wrapped corpse come out as a healthy fellow wrapped in funeral clothing.
My point is, with God, His timing is not our timing when He answers prayer. LIke Dr, Stanley said, God sees the bigger picture, and He knows exactly \when you really need the answer to your prayer and He knows the purpose that the answer must serve in your life. 😀
Thank you for sharing!!
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i want to thank YOU for sharing this comment with me……………you help in so many ways
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Interestingly, I would have missed the sermon tonight that reminded me of this story if I had gone with my desires and ignored my responsibilities at crusade, but I said to myself God doesn’t shirk His responsibilities where I’m concerned, if He did, I would be dead. It’s amazing how God works, isn’t it? After all I just did something useful for you with the knowledge 😀
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it is awesome when we see how god uses people to help others, u have always seemed like a guardian angel to me, always knowing the right verse to tell me or show me
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